24.05.2021

On May 24, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting on expanding coverage of preschool educational institutions in the regions.

In preschool age, children’s cognitive activity, moral and physical qualities are formed. Therefore, in our country, a lot of work is being accomplished in terms of the organizational and substantive improvement of the sphere of preschool education.

In particular, over the past four years, the number of kindergartens has grown from 5,2 thousand to 18,3 thousand. The number of children with preschool education has doubled and reached 60%. As a result of the opportunities and benefits provided by the state, the number of private and family kindergartens has increased. Today, 1,7 million children are being educated in all preschool educational institutions.

However, there is a storage of kindergartens in 53 districts. The level of enrollment in preschool education is very low, for example, in the Bandikhan, Denau and Kumkurgan districts of the Surkhandarya region, the Chirakchi, Kamashinsky and Kitab districts of the Kashkadarya region, as well as in the Yangiyul District of the Tashkent region.

These and other shortcomings were criticized at the meeting. The ways of eliminating the shortcomings, expanding the coverage and improving the quality of preschool education were discussed.

The measures have been determined to build 2000 family kindergartens with 34000 places in 53 districts. A proposal on employment of additional workers and acceptance of twice as many children was approved to such kindergartens.

Emphasizing that the key of education and upbringing is their content, the President set the task of providing family kindergartens with teaching manuals and teaching materials free of charge. The state will allocate 30 billion Uzbek soums for these purposes. In addition, such kindergartens will be provided with soft loans for up to 30 million Uzbek soums at 5% per annum in order to provide them with the necessary equipment.

Another expansion source of preschool enrollment in remote areas is public-private partnership (PPP) kindergartens. Today these organizations receive subsidies to cover 50% of the cost per child.

The President has instructed to increase this share to 75%, as well as compensate 50% of the costs of private kindergartens for electricity and natural gas.

Due to the pandemic, the repayment of the principal of loans for part-time PPP kindergartens will be extended until the end of the year.

At the same time, the state continues to build new kindergartens. In 2021-2022, it is planned to organize 50 preschool educational institutions in remote settlements of 23 districts. To accommodate these kindergartens, 50 makhallas with the lowest enrollment rates and more than 250 children were selected.

The President instructed to build the abovementioned kindergartens based on the best foreign practices, provide them with modern equipment and teaching materials.

It was noted that short-term courses will be organized to train and upgrade the skills of 12 thousand kindergarten workers.

The First Deputy Minister of Preschool Education was dismissed for the shortcomings. Deputy Ministers and heads of all regional departments of the Ministry have been demoted to the status of acting ones. It was determined that the issue of their competence will be reviewed in the light of the effectiveness of further activities.